Media system controller interface

ABSTRACT

Techniques described herein relate to media playback controller interfaces, interface layouts, and interactions for facilitating navigation and control. An example implementation may includes causing a touch-screen graphical display to display a control interface comprising (i) a first tab and a second tab separated by a first distance, (ii) a first information window at a position between the first tab and the second tab, the displayed first information window not overlapping the first tab and the second tab, and (iii) content associated with the first tab in the first information window. The implementation further involves receiving, via the touch-screen graphical display, data representing a touch input on the touch-screen graphical display, and in response to the touch input, modifying the displayed control interface to (a) display the first tab and the second tab separated by a second distance shorter than the first distance (b) no longer display the first information window.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, and is acontinuation of, U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No.15/152,515, filed on May 11, 2016, entitled “Media System ControllerInterface,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, and is acontinuation of, U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No.14/186,970, filed on Feb. 21, 2014, entitled “Media System ControllerInterface,” and issued on Jun. 1, 2016 as U.S. Pat. No. 9,372,610 whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, tomethods, systems, products, features, services, and other elementsdirected to media playback or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Options for accessing and listening to digital audio in an out-loudsetting were severely limited until in 2003, when SONOS, Inc. filed forone of its first patent applications, entitled “Method for SynchronizingAudio Playback between Multiple Networked Devices,” and began offering amedia playback system for sale in 2005. The Sonos Wireless HiFi Systemenables people to experience music from virtually unlimited sources viaone or more networked playback devices. Through a software controlapplication installed on a smartphone, tablet, or computer, one can playwhat he or she wants in any room that has a networked playback device.Additionally, using the controller, for example, different songs can bestreamed to each room with a playback device, rooms can be groupedtogether for synchronous playback, or the same song can be heard in allrooms synchronously.

Given the ever growing interest in digital media, there continues to bea need to develop consumer-accessible technologies to further enhancethe listening experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technologymay be better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an example media playback system configuration in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device;

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device;

FIG. 4 shows an example controller interface;

FIG. 5 shows an example flow diagrams for providing a media systemcontroller interface;

FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C show a series of example interface interactions;

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E, and 7F show a series of example media systemcontroller interfaces; and

FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C show a series of example media system controllerinterfaces.

The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating example embodiments,but it is understood that the inventions are not limited to thearrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

Embodiments described herein involve media playback controllerinterfaces, interface layouts, and interactions for facilitating auser's navigation and control of a media playback system. In mediaplayback systems, such as the illustrative examples discussed below insection II, a user may enjoy media content in different playback zones,in user-specified orders, and from different content sources, amongothers. To control and manage the media playback system, the user mayaccess the media playback system through interactions with a controllerinterface on a network computing device. Given the plethora of controloptions, a relatively simple, yet comprehensive controller interface maybe beneficial for the user to easily navigate and configure mediacontent to be played by the media playback system, and playback zoneswithin which to play the media content.

FIG. 4, as will be discussed in further detail below, provides anexample controller interface 400 that may be accessed by the user tocontrol and manage the media playback system. In this illustrativeexample, the layout of the controller interface 400 allows the user toeasily see, in a single view, a region showing playback zones in themedia playback system, a region showing media content being played in aparticular playback zone, a region showing a playback queue of mediacontent for the particular playback zone, and a region showing mediacontent sources available for access by the media playback system. Theuser may also easily interact with the controller interface 400 tomanage playback of media content, navigate between playback zones,combine or separate playback zones, and browse media content availablefrom various media content sources within the single view layout of thecontroller interface 400.

In some cases, however, a layout such as that of the controllerinterface 400 may be less than ideal if the user is accessing the mediaplayback system using a network device with a smaller display, such as asmart phone, because there may not be enough space on the display toeffectively provide all the different regions of the controllerinterface.

As such, a controller interface layout is provided to effectivelydisplay control regions on a smaller displays. The controller interfaceincludes constantly displayed tabs representing the different regions,but only display content associated with one of the tabs at a time. Theuser may then interact with the interface to navigate among contentassociated with the different respective tabs.

For example, in one embodiment, a first tab may be a playback zones tab,and a second tab displayed directly below the first tab, may be a mediacontent playback tab. Directly below the media content playback tab, aninformation window may display content associated with media contentplayback, such as for example, metadata indicating a track title, atrack artist, a track album, and/or an album art, among others,associated with media content that is currently being played in aparticular playback zone of the media content. In some embodiments, theinformation window associated with the media content playback tab mayalso include selectable control icons for controlling playback of themedia content being played in the particular playback zone.

If the user wishes to view the different playback zones in the mediaplayback system, the user may interact with the controller interface,such as via a touch or swipe input, to cause the media content playbacktab to shift downwards, collapsing and hiding the information windowthat displays content associated with media content playback, and revealan information window directly below the playback zones tab (and abovethe media content playback tab) displaying content associated with thedifferent playback zones in the media playback system, including theparticular playback zone in which the media content is currently beingplayed.

The controller interface in this example may further include additionaltabs associated with content that may be displayed or hidden accordingto the user's interactions with the controller interface. While only asingle information window is displayed at a time, the tabs areconstantly displayed, allowing the user to navigate between the tabs andtheir associated content quickly and easily. In some embodiments, thedisplayed tabs may be dynamically updated to indicate relevant content.For instance, when the information window is displaying contentassociated with the different playback zones in the media playbacksystem, the media content playback tab can indicate media contentcurrently playing in a particular playback zone that is selected in theinformation window. Analogously, when the information window isdisplaying content associated with media content that is currently beingplayed in a particular playback zone of the media content, the playbackzones tab may indicate the particular playback zone in which the mediacontent is being played. Other examples are also possible.

In one example, the different regions of the controller interface 400may each be provided as individual tabs. In another example, controloptions and other information related to the media playback system maybe organized differently. For instance, a playback queue for a playbackzone or room of the media playback system may be accessible via aselectable icon displayed among content associated with a playback zonestab or a now playing tab, rather than via a dedicated playback queuetab. Other examples are also possible.

As indicated, the present application involves providing a controllerinterface for controlling a media playback system. It is understood thatembodiments described in the present application may be useful in otherapplications, especially when the interface is designed to accommodatelimited screen size and there are a number of related topics withcontent that is to be displayed.

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method is provided. The methodinvolves displaying in an information window, content associated with afirst tab. The first tab is at a position directly above the informationwindow. The method also involves displaying a second tab at a positiondirectly below the information window, and in response to a first input,causing (i) the second tab to be displayed at a position directly belowthe first tab, (ii) the information window to be displayed at a positiondirectly below the second tab, and (iii) the information window todisplay content associated with the second tab.

In another aspect, a second computer-implemented method is provided. Themethod involves displaying a second tab at a position directly below afirst tab, and displaying in an information window, content associatedwith the second tab. The information window is at a position directlybelow the second tab. The method also involves in response to a firstinput, causing (i) the information window to be displayed at a positiondirectly below the first tab, (ii) the information window to displaycontent associated the first tab, and (iii) the second tab to bedisplayed at a position directly below the information window.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions include displaying a firsttitle region at a first location, displaying a second title region at asecond location, and displaying in a content region, content associatedwith the first title region. The content region is at a third locationbetween the first location and the second location. The functions alsoinclude in response to a first input, (i) displaying the second titleregion at a fourth location directly below the first location, (ii)displaying the content region at a fifth location directly below thefourth location, and (iii) displaying in the content region, contentassociated with the second title region.

It will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that thisdisclosure includes numerous other embodiments.

II. Example Operating Environment

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration of a media playback system 100 inwhich one or more embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced orimplemented. The media playback system 100 as shown is associated withan example home environment having several rooms and spaces, such as forexample, a master bedroom, an office, a dining room, and a living room.As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the media playback system 100includes playback devices 102-124, control devices 126 and 128, and awired or wireless network router 130.

Further discussions relating to the different components of the examplemedia playback system 100 and how the different components may interactto provide a user with a media experience may be found in the followingsections. While discussions herein may generally refer to the examplemedia playback system 100, technologies described herein are not limitedto applications within, among other things, the home environment asshown in FIG. 1. For instance, the technologies described herein may beuseful in environments where multi-zone audio may be desired, such as,for example, a commercial setting like a restaurant, mall or airport, avehicle like a sports utility vehicle (SUV), bus or car, a ship or boat,an airplane, and so on.

a. Example Playback Devices

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device200 that may be configured to be one or more of the playback devices102-124 of the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1. The playback device200 may include a processor 202, software components 204, memory 206,audio processing components 208, audio amplifier(s) 210, speaker(s) 212,and a network interface 214 including wireless interface(s) 216 andwired interface(s) 218. In one case, the playback device 200 may notinclude the speaker(s) 212, but rather a speaker interface forconnecting the playback device 200 to external speakers. In anothercase, the playback device 200 may include neither the speaker(s) 212 northe audio amplifier(s) 210, but rather an audio interface for connectingthe playback device 200 to an external audio amplifier or audio-visualreceiver.

In one example, the processor 202 may be a clock-driven computingcomponent configured to process input data according to instructionsstored in the memory 206. The memory 206 may be a tangiblecomputer-readable medium configured to store instructions executable bythe processor 202. For instance, the memory 206 may be data storage thatcan be loaded with one or more of the software components 204 executableby the processor 202 to achieve certain functions. In one example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 retrieving audio data froman audio source or another playback device. In another example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 sending audio data toanother device or playback device on a network. In yet another example,the functions may involve pairing of the playback device 200 with one ormore playback devices to create a multi-channel audio environment.

Certain functions may involve the playback device 200 synchronizingplayback of audio content with one or more other playback devices.During synchronous playback, a listener will preferably not be able toperceive time-delay differences between playback of the audio content bythe playback device 200 and the one or more other playback devices. U.S.Pat. No. 8,234,395 entitled, “System and method for synchronizingoperations among a plurality of independently clocked digital dataprocessing devices,” which is hereby incorporated by reference, providesin more detail some examples for audio playback synchronization amongplayback devices.

The memory 206 may further be configured to store data associated withthe playback device 200, such as one or more zones and/or zone groupsthe playback device 200 is a part of, audio sources accessible by theplayback device 200, or a playback queue that the playback device 200(or some other playback device) may be associated with. The data may bestored as one or more state variables that are periodically updated andused to describe the state of the playback device 200. The memory 206may also include the data associated with the state of the other devicesof the media system, and shared from time to time among the devices sothat one or more of the devices have the most recent data associatedwith the system. Other embodiments are also possible.

The audio processing components 208 may include one or moredigital-to-analog converters (DAC), an audio preprocessing component, anaudio enhancement component or a digital signal processor (DSP), and soon. In one embodiment, one or more of the audio processing components208 may be a subcomponent of the processor 202. In one example, audiocontent may be processed and/or intentionally altered by the audioprocessing components 208 to produce audio signals. The produced audiosignals may then be provided to the audio amplifier(s) 210 foramplification and playback through speaker(s) 212. Particularly, theaudio amplifier(s) 210 may include devices configured to amplify audiosignals to a level for driving one or more of the speakers 212. Thespeaker(s) 212 may include an individual transducer (e.g., a “driver”)or a complete speaker system involving an enclosure with one or moredrivers. A particular driver of the speaker(s) 212 may include, forexample, a subwoofer (e.g., for low frequencies), a mid-range driver(e.g., for middle frequencies), and/or a tweeter (e.g., for highfrequencies). In some cases, each transducer in the one or more speakers212 may be driven by an individual corresponding audio amplifier of theaudio amplifier(s) 210. In addition to producing analog signals forplayback by the playback device 200, the audio processing components 208may be configured to process audio content to be sent to one or moreother playback devices for playback.

Audio content to be processed and/or played back by the playback device200 may be received from an external source, such as via an audioline-in input connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audio line-inconnection) or the network interface 214.

The network interface 214 may be configured to facilitate a data flowbetween the playback device 200 and one or more other devices on a datanetwork. As such, the playback device 200 may be configured to receiveaudio content over the data network from one or more other playbackdevices in communication with the playback device 200, network deviceswithin a local area network, or audio content sources over a wide areanetwork such as the Internet. In one example, the audio content andother signals transmitted and received by the playback device 200 may betransmitted in the form of digital packet data containing an InternetProtocol (IP)-based source address and IP-based destination addresses.In such a case, the network interface 214 may be configured to parse thedigital packet data such that the data destined for the playback device200 is properly received and processed by the playback device 200.

As shown, the network interface 214 may include wireless interface(s)216 and wired interface(s) 218. The wireless interface(s) 216 mayprovide network interface functions for the playback device 200 towirelessly communicate with other devices (e.g., other playbackdevice(s), speaker(s), receiver(s), network device(s), control device(s)within a data network the playback device 200 is associated with) inaccordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wireless standardincluding IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4Gmobile communication standard, and so on). The wired interface(s) 218may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 tocommunicate over a wired connection with other devices in accordancewith a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). While the networkinterface 214 shown in FIG. 2 includes both wireless interface(s) 216and wired interface(s) 218, the network interface 214 may in someembodiments include only wireless interface(s) or only wiredinterface(s).

In one example, the playback device 200 and one other playback devicemay be paired to play two separate audio components of audio content.For instance, playback device 200 may be configured to play a leftchannel audio component, while the other playback device may beconfigured to play a right channel audio component, thereby producing orenhancing a stereo effect of the audio content. The paired playbackdevices (also referred to as “bonded playback devices”) may further playaudio content in synchrony with other playback devices.

In another example, the playback device 200 may be sonicallyconsolidated with one or more other playback devices to form a single,consolidated playback device. A consolidated playback device may beconfigured to process and reproduce sound differently than anunconsolidated playback device or playback devices that are paired,because a consolidated playback device may have additional speakerdrivers through which audio content may be rendered. For instance, ifthe playback device 200 is a playback device designed to render lowfrequency range audio content (i.e. a subwoofer), the playback device200 may be consolidated with a playback device designed to render fullfrequency range audio content. In such a case, the full frequency rangeplayback device, when consolidated with the low frequency playbackdevice 200, may be configured to render only the mid and high frequencycomponents of audio content, while the low frequency range playbackdevice 200 renders the low frequency component of the audio content. Theconsolidated playback device may further be paired with a singleplayback device or yet another consolidated playback device.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. presently offers (or has offered)for sale certain playback devices including a “PLAY:1,” “PLAY:3,”“PLAY:5,” “PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any otherpast, present, and/or future playback devices may additionally oralternatively be used to implement the playback devices of exampleembodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, it is understood that aplayback device is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 2 orto the SONOS product offerings. For example, a playback device mayinclude a wired or wireless headphone. In another example, a playbackdevice may include or interact with a docking station for personalmobile media playback devices. In yet another example, a playback devicemay be integral to another device or component such as a television, alighting fixture, or some other device for indoor or outdoor use.

b. Example Playback Zone Configurations

Referring back to the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, theenvironment may have one or more playback zones, each with one or moreplayback devices. The media playback system 100 may be established withone or more playback zones, after which one or more zones may be added,or removed to arrive at the example configuration shown in FIG. 1. Eachzone may be given a name according to a different room or space such asan office, bathroom, master bedroom, bedroom, kitchen, dining room,living room, and/or balcony. In one case, a single playback zone mayinclude multiple rooms or spaces. In another case, a single room orspace may include multiple playback zones.

As shown in FIG. 1, the balcony, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, office,and bedroom zones each have one playback device, while the living roomand master bedroom zones each have multiple playback devices. In theliving room zone, playback devices 104, 106, 108, and 110 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as one or more bonded playback devices, as one or moreconsolidated playback devices, or any combination thereof. Similarly, inthe case of the master bedroom, playback devices 122 and 124 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as a bonded playback device, or as a consolidated playbackdevice.

In one example, one or more playback zones in the environment of FIG. 1may each be playing different audio content. For instance, the user maybe grilling in the balcony zone and listening to hip hop music beingplayed by the playback device 102 while another user may be preparingfood in the kitchen zone and listening to classical music being playedby the playback device 114. In another example, a playback zone may playthe same audio content in synchrony with another playback zone. Forinstance, the user may be in the office zone where the playback device118 is playing the same rock music that is being playing by playbackdevice 102 in the balcony zone. In such a case, playback devices 102 and118 may be playing the rock music in synchrony such that the user mayseamlessly (or at least substantially seamlessly) enjoy the audiocontent that is being played out-loud while moving between differentplayback zones. Synchronization among playback zones may be achieved ina manner similar to that of synchronization among playback devices, asdescribed in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395.

As suggested above, the zone configurations of the media playback system100 may be dynamically modified, and in some embodiments, the mediaplayback system 100 supports numerous configurations. For instance, if auser physically moves one or more playback devices to or from a zone,the media playback system 100 may be reconfigured to accommodate thechange(s). For instance, if the user physically moves the playbackdevice 102 from the balcony zone to the office zone, the office zone maynow include both the playback device 118 and the playback device 102.The playback device 102 may be paired or grouped with the office zoneand/or renamed if so desired via a control device such as the controldevices 126 and 128. On the other hand, if the one or more playbackdevices are moved to a particular area in the home environment that isnot already a playback zone, a new playback zone may be created for theparticular area.

Further, different playback zones of the media playback system 100 maybe dynamically combined into zone groups or split up into individualplayback zones. For instance, the dining room zone and the kitchen zone114 may be combined into a zone group for a dinner party such thatplayback devices 112 and 114 may render audio content in synchrony. Onthe other hand, the living room zone may be split into a television zoneincluding playback device 104, and a listening zone including playbackdevices 106, 108, and 110, if the user wishes to listen to music in theliving room space while another user wishes to watch television.

c. Example Control Devices

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device 300that may be configured to be one or both of the control devices 126 and128 of the media playback system 100. As shown, the control device 300may include a processor 302, memory 304, a network interface 306, and auser interface 308. In one example, the control device 300 may be adedicated controller for the media playback system 100. In anotherexample, the control device 300 may be a network device on which mediaplayback system controller application software may be installed, suchas for example, an iPhone™, iPad™ or any other smart phone, tablet ornetwork device (e.g., a networked computer such as a PC or Mac™).

The processor 302 may be configured to perform functions relevant tofacilitating user access, control, and configuration of the mediaplayback system 100. The memory 304 may be configured to storeinstructions executable by the processor 302 to perform those functions.The memory 304 may also be configured to store the media playback systemcontroller application software and other data associated with the mediaplayback system 100 and the user.

In one example, the network interface 306 may be based on an industrystandard (e.g., infrared, radio, wired standards including IEEE 802.3,wireless standards including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n,802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). Thenetwork interface 306 may provide a means for the control device 300 tocommunicate with other devices in the media playback system 100. In oneexample, data and information (e.g., such as a state variable) may becommunicated between control device 300 and other devices via thenetwork interface 306. For instance, playback zone and zone groupconfigurations in the media playback system 100 may be received by thecontrol device 300 from a playback device or another network device, ortransmitted by the control device 300 to another playback device ornetwork device via the network interface 306. In some cases, the othernetwork device may be another control device.

Playback device control commands such as volume control and audioplayback control may also be communicated from the control device 300 toa playback device via the network interface 306. As suggested above,changes to configurations of the media playback system 100 may also beperformed by a user using the control device 300. The configurationchanges may include adding/removing one or more playback devices to/froma zone, adding/removing one or more zones to/from a zone group, forminga bonded or consolidated player, separating one or more playback devicesfrom a bonded or consolidated player, among others. Accordingly, thecontrol device 300 may sometimes be referred to as a controller, whetherthe control device 300 is a dedicated controller or a network device onwhich media playback system controller application software isinstalled.

The user interface 308 of the control device 300 may be configured tofacilitate user access and control of the media playback system 100, byproviding a controller interface such as the controller interface 400shown in FIG. 4. The controller interface 400 includes a playbackcontrol region 410, a playback zone region 420, a playback status region430, a playback queue region 440, and an audio content sources region450. The user interface 400 as shown is just one example of a userinterface that may be provided on a network device such as the controldevice 300 of FIG. 3 (and/or the control devices 126 and 128 of FIG. 1)and accessed by users to control a media playback system such as themedia playback system 100. Other user interfaces of varying formats,styles, and interactive sequences may alternatively be implemented onone or more network devices to provide comparable control access to amedia playback system.

The playback control region 410 may include selectable (e.g., by way oftouch or by using a cursor) icons to cause playback devices in aselected playback zone or zone group to play or pause, fast forward,rewind, skip to next, skip to previous, enter/exit shuffle mode,enter/exit repeat mode, enter/exit cross fade mode. The playback controlregion 410 may also include selectable icons to modify equalizationsettings, and playback volume, among other possibilities.

The playback zone region 420 may include representations of playbackzones within the media playback system 100. In some embodiments, thegraphical representations of playback zones may be selectable to bringup additional selectable icons to manage or configure the playback zonesin the media playback system, such as a creation of bonded zones,creation of zone groups, separation of zone groups, and renaming of zonegroups, among other possibilities.

For example, as shown, a “group” icon may be provided within each of thegraphical representations of playback zones. The “group” icon providedwithin a graphical representation of a particular zone may be selectableto bring up options to select one or more other zones in the mediaplayback system to be grouped with the particular zone. Once grouped,playback devices in the zones that have been grouped with the particularzone will be configured to play audio content in synchrony with theplayback device(s) in the particular zone. Analogously, a “group” iconmay be provided within a graphical representation of a zone group. Inthis case, the “group” icon may be selectable to bring up options todeselect one or more zones in the zone group to be removed from the zonegroup. Other interactions and implementations for grouping andungrouping zones via a user interface such as the user interface 400 arealso possible. The representations of playback zones in the playbackzone region 420 may be dynamically updated as playback zone or zonegroup configurations are modified.

The playback status region 430 may include graphical representations ofaudio content that is presently being played, previously played, orscheduled to play next in the selected playback zone or zone group. Theselected playback zone or zone group may be visually distinguished onthe user interface, such as within the playback zone region 420 and/orthe playback status region 430. The graphical representations mayinclude track title, artist name, album name, album year, track length,and other relevant information that may be useful for the user to knowwhen controlling the media playback system via the user interface 400.

The playback queue region 440 may include graphical representations ofaudio content in a playback queue associated with the selected playbackzone or zone group. In some embodiments, each playback zone or zonegroup may be associated with a playback queue containing informationcorresponding to zero or more audio items for playback by the playbackzone or zone group. For instance, each audio item in the playback queuemay comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resourcelocator (URL) or some other identifier that may be used by a playbackdevice in the playback zone or zone group to find and/or retrieve theaudio item from a local audio content source or a networked audiocontent source, possibly for playback by the playback device.

In one example, a playlist may be added to a playback queue, in whichcase information corresponding to each audio item in the playlist may beadded to the playback queue. In another example, audio items in aplayback queue may be saved as a playlist. In a further example, aplayback queue may be empty, or populated but “not in use” when theplayback zone or zone group is playing continuously streaming audiocontent, such as Internet radio that may continue to play untilotherwise stopped, rather than discrete audio items that have playbackdurations. In an alternative embodiment, a playback queue can includeInternet radio and/or other streaming audio content items and be “inuse” when the playback zone or zone group is playing those items. Otherexamples are also possible.

When playback zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped,”playback queues associated with the affected playback zones or zonegroups may be cleared or re-associated. For example, if a first playbackzone including a first playback queue is grouped with a second playbackzone including a second playback queue, the established zone group mayhave an associated playback queue that is initially empty, that containsaudio items from the first playback queue (such as if the secondplayback zone was added to the first playback zone), that contains audioitems from the second playback queue (such as if the first playback zonewas added to the second playback zone), or a combination of audio itemsfrom both the first and second playback queues. Subsequently, if theestablished zone group is ungrouped, the resulting first playback zonemay be re-associated with the previous first playback queue, or beassociated with a new playback queue that is empty or contains audioitems from the playback queue associated with the established zone groupbefore the established zone group was ungrouped. Similarly, theresulting second playback zone may be re-associated with the previoussecond playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue thatis empty, or contains audio items from the playback queue associatedwith the established zone group before the established zone group wasungrouped. Other examples are also possible.

Referring back to the user interface 400 of FIG. 4, the graphicalrepresentations of audio content in the playback queue region 440 mayinclude track titles, artist names, track lengths, and other relevantinformation associated with the audio content in the playback queue. Inone example, graphical representations of audio content may beselectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage and/ormanipulate the playback queue and/or audio content represented in theplayback queue. For instance, a represented audio content may be removedfrom the playback queue, moved to a different position within theplayback queue, or selected to be played immediately, or after anycurrently playing audio content, among other possibilities. A playbackqueue associated with a playback zone or zone group may be stored in amemory on one or more playback devices in the playback zone or zonegroup, on a playback device that is not in the playback zone or zonegroup, and/or some other designated device.

The audio content sources region 450 may include graphicalrepresentations of selectable audio content sources from which audiocontent may be retrieved and played by the selected playback zone orzone group. Discussions pertaining to audio content sources may be foundin the following section.

d. Example Audio Content Sources

As indicated previously, one or more playback devices in a zone or zonegroup may be configured to retrieve for playback audio content (e.g.according to a corresponding URI or URL for the audio content) from avariety of available audio content sources. In one example, audiocontent may be retrieved by a playback device directly from acorresponding audio content source (e.g., a line-in connection). Inanother example, audio content may be provided to a playback device overa network via one or more other playback devices or network devices.

Example audio content sources may include a memory of one or moreplayback devices in a media playback system such as the media playbacksystem 100 of FIG. 1, local music libraries on one or more networkdevices (such as a control device, a network-enabled personal computer,or a networked-attached storage (NAS), for example), streaming audioservices providing audio content via the Internet (e.g., the cloud), oraudio sources connected to the media playback system via a line-in inputconnection on a playback device or network devise, among otherpossibilities.

In some embodiments, audio content sources may be regularly added orremoved from a media playback system such as the media playback system100 of FIG. 1. In one example, an indexing of audio items may beperformed whenever one or more audio content sources are added, removedor updated. Indexing of audio items may involve scanning foridentifiable audio items in all folders/directory shared over a networkaccessible by playback devices in the media playback system, andgenerating or updating an audio content database containing metadata(e.g., title, artist, album, track length, among others) and otherassociated information, such as a URI or URL for each identifiable audioitem found. Other examples for managing and maintaining audio contentsources may also be possible.

The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices,playback zone configurations, and media content sources provide onlysome examples of operating environments within which functions andmethods described below may be implemented. Other operating environmentsand configurations of media playback systems, playback devices, andnetwork devices not explicitly described herein may also be applicableand suitable for implementation of the functions and methods.

III. Example Media Playback Controller Interfaces

As discussed above, embodiments described herein may involve mediaplayback controller interfaces, interface layouts, and interactions forfacilitating a user's navigation and control of a media playback system.

FIG. 5 shows an example flow diagram for providing a media systemcontroller interface. Method 500 shown in FIG. 5 presents an embodimentof a method that can be implemented within an operating environmentinvolving, for example, the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1, one ormore of the playback device 200 of FIG. 2, and one or more of thecontrol device 300 of FIG. 3. Method 500 may include one or moreoperations, functions, or actions as illustrated by one or more ofblocks 502-508. Although the blocks are illustrated in sequential order,these blocks may also be performed in parallel, and/or in a differentorder than those described herein. Also, the various blocks may becombined into fewer blocks, divided into additional blocks, and/orremoved based upon the desired implementation.

In addition, for the method 500 and other processes and methodsdisclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of onepossible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, eachblock may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code,which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Theprogram code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, forexample, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive. Thecomputer readable medium may include non-transitory computer readablemedium, for example, such as computer-readable media that stores datafor short periods of time like register memory, processor cache andRandom Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium may alsoinclude non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent long termstorage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks,compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computerreadable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storagesystems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. Inaddition, for the method 500 and other processes and methods disclosedherein, each block in FIG. 5 may represent circuitry that is wired toperform the specific logical functions in the process.

At block 502, the method 500 involves displaying in an informationwindow content associated with a first tab. FIG. 6A shows an exampleinterface 600 with a tab 602, a tab 604, a tab 606, and an informationwindow 608. FIG. 6A also shows content 608 displayed in the informationwindow 608. In this example, the first tab may be the tab 602, and theinformation window may be the information window 608. As shown, thefirst tab 602 is at a position directly above the information window608. Accordingly, the content 608 displayed in the information window608 is associated with the tab 602 positioned directly above theinformation window 608. In some cases, the tab 602 may include a titleregion associated with the content 608 provided in the informationwindow 608, indicating information associated with the content 608. Insome discussions herein, an information window such as the informationwindow 608 may also be referred to a content region associated with thetitle region or tab 602.

At block 604, the method 500 involves displaying a second tab at aposition directly below the information window. As shown in FIG. 6A, thesecond tab may be the tab 604 directly below the information window 608.As also shown in FIG. 6A, the tab 606 may be a third tab that is at aposition directly below the second tab 604. As indicated previously,content displayed in the information window 608 is associated with thefirst tab 602, and content associated with tabs 604 and 606 may notdisplayed when content 652 is displayed. Accordingly, if the user wishesto view content associated with either tab 604, or tab 606, the user mayneed to interact with the interface to do so.

Interactions with the controller interface to view content associatedwith either tab 604 or tab 606 may include a touch input, a flick input,a drag input, or some other input in relation to either tab 604 or tab606. For example, if the user wishes to see content associated with tab604, the user may select tab 604 by touching or tapping the tab 604.Alternatively, the user may flick or drag the tab 604 upwards away fromthe tab 606 to “reveal” and view content associated with tab 604.Similarly, the user may touch or tap the tab 606, or flick or drag thetab 606 upwards away from the bottom of the interface 600 to reveal andview content associated with tab 606. Other examples are also possible.

At block 506, the method 500 involves, in response to the first input,causing (i) the second tab to be displayed at a position directly belowthe first tab, (ii) the information window to be displayed at a positiondirectly below the second tab, and (iii) the information window todisplay content associated with the second tab. In one example, thefirst input may include the user input or interaction to view contentassociated with tab 604. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6B, the secondtab 604 is directly below the first tab 602, the information window 608is directly below the second tab 604, and the information window 608 isdisplaying content 654 that is associated with tab 604. Also shown isthe third tab 506 directly below the information window 654.

In this case, if the user wishes to view the content 652 associated withthe first tab 602 again, the user can further interact with theinterface to do so. For instance, the user can select tab 602 bytouching or tapping the tab 602. Alternatively, the user may flick ordrag the tab 604 downward, away from the tab 602 to reveal and viewcontent associated with tab 602.

At block 508, the method 500 involves, in response to a second input,causing (i) the information window to be displayed at the positiondirectly below the first tab, (ii) the information window to displaycontent associated the first tab to be display, and (iii) the second tabto be displayed at the position directly below the information window.In one example, the second input may include the user input orinteraction to view content associated with tab 602. Accordingly, asshown in FIG. 6C, the information window 608 is once again directlybelow the first tab 602 and displaying the content 652 associated withthe tab 602. Also as shown, the second tab 604 is directly below theinformation window 608, and the the third tab 606 directly below thesecond tab 604.

From the controller interface 600 shown in FIG. 6C, the user may onceagain view the content 654 associated with the second tab 604 usinginputs or interactions described above in connection to block 506.Similarly, the user may view content associated with tab 606 usinginputs or interactions such as a touch or tap on the tab 606, or a flickor drag of the tab 606 upwards away from the bottom of the interface 600to show content associated with tab 606. In addition to merely viewingcontent associated with each of the different tabs 602, 604, and 606 ofthe interface 600, the user may in some cases, as will be discussedbelow, interact with the displayed content. Other examples are alsopossible.

As indicated above, the present application involves media playbackcontroller interfaces, interface layouts, and interactions forfacilitating a user's navigation and control of a media playback system.FIGS. 7A-7F show a series of example media system controller interfaces.As shown in FIG. 7A, an interface 700 includes a Rooms tab 702, a NowPlaying tab 704, a Queue tab 706, and a Music Sources tab 708. In thisexample, a displayed information window directly below the Now Playingtab 704 may include content 714 associated with the Now Playing tab 704,such as for example, album art, title, artist name, and album nameinformation for “Track 1” that is currently being played by the mediaplayback system. Also as shown, a title region of the Now Playing tab704 may indicate that “Track 1” is currently being played in a “Kitchen”playback zone of the media playback system. In some cases, the user maycontrol playback of the currently playing media content while viewingthe information window. For instance, a tap input on the displayed albumart may cause selectable icons for skip back, pause/play, and/or skipforward controls to appear in the information window. Other examples arealso possible.

If the user then wishes to view the playback queue associated with the“Kitchen” playback zone, the user may interact with the interface 700 asdiscussed previously in connection to method 500 and FIGS. 6A-6C tocause the information window to display content 716 associated with theQueue tab 706. As shown, content 716 may include a list of varioustracks in the playback queue associated with the “Kitchen” playbackzone, as indicated in the title region of the Now Playing tab 704.Within the information window displaying content 716, the user mayinteract with the listed tracks to remove or reorder one or more of thelisted tracks.

If the user wishes to browse media content available on different musicsources that the media playback system is configured to retrieve mediacontent for playback, the user can interface with the interface 700 tocause the information window to display content 718 associated with theMusic Sources tab 708. As shown in FIG. 7C, content 718 may include alist of available music sources. The user may then interact with thelisted music sources to browse and select media content to be added tothe playback queue associated with the “Kitchen” playback zone and/orplayed immediately in the “Kitchen” playback zone.

In one illustrative example, the user may have browsed through some ofthe music sources included in content 718 and displayed in theinformation window, and may have chosen a “Track 11” to be played in the“Kitchen” playback one. Upon selecting “Track 11” to be played, theinterface may automatically, or in response to further user interaction,display in the information window content 714 associated with the NowPlaying tab, as shown in FIG. 7D. The content 714 may now include albumart, title, artist name, and album name information for “Track 11” thatis currently being played by the media playback system.

The user may then decide that “Track 11” should be played in additionalplayback zones. As such, the user may interact with the interface 700 tocause the information window to display content 712 associated with theRooms tab 702. As shown in FIG. 7E, content 712 may include each of theplayback zones in the media playback system. In one example, the usermay select a displayed playback zones to further configure the playbackzone. In one case, as shown, the user may select the “Dining Room”playback zone to also play “Track 11,” in synchrony with the playback of“Track 11” in the “Kitchen” playback zone. In other words, the user maygroup the “Kitchen” playback zone and the “Dining Room” playback onetogether such that the two playback zones play media content such as inthis case, “Track 11” in synchrony.

Upon grouping the “Kitchen” playback zone and the “Dining Room” playbackzone together to play “Track 11” in synchrony, the interface mayautomatically, or in response to further user interaction, display againin the information window content 714, as shown in FIG. 7F. As alsoshown in FIG. 7F, the title region of the Now Playing tab 704 has beenupdated to indicate that “Track 11” is now being played in a“Kitchen+Dining Room” playback zone.

FIGS. 7A-7F provide just one illustrative example of how the mediacontroller interface may be implemented according to the layoutdiscussed above in connection to method 500 and FIGS. 6A-6C, and how theuser may interact with such a controller interface. In this particularexample, the interface 700 provides an alternative layout to displayingthe content and information provided by the controller interface 400 ofFIG. 4. As suggested previously, the single view layout of thecontroller interface 400 may be suitable for a network device having asufficiently large display, while the layout shown in FIGS. 7A-7F may bemore suitable for network devices having smaller displays.

Nevertheless, other example media system controller interfaceconfigurations may be implemented. FIGS. 8A-8C show another series ofexample media system controller interfaces. As shown in FIG. 8A,interface 800 includes a System tab 802, a Now Playing tab 804, and aZones tab 806. In this example, the Zones tab 806 may be similar to theRooms tab 702 of FIGS. 7A-7F. Accordingly, as shown, content 816associated with the Zones tab 806 may include a list of playback zonesof the media playback system. In this illustrative example, the user maychoose to group the “Kitchen” playback zone and the “Patio” playbackzone together to play media content in synchrony.

In this series of example interfaces, different from those shown inFIGS. 7A-7F, the interface 800 may not include a designated MusicSources tab. Instead, the user may browse and select media content to beplayed via the System tab 802. As such, the user may interact with theinterface 800 to cause the information window to display content 812associated with the System tab 802, as shown in FIG. 8B. Content 812 inthis example may include selection options of “System Settings” to viewand modify configurations of the media playback system, “User Profile”to view and modify user account information affiliated with the mediaplayback system, “Favorites” to view and potentially select mediacontent, playback zones, music sources, among other possibilities, thatthe user accesses the most, and “Music Sources” to browse and selectmedia content for the media playback system to play. As also shown inFIG. 8B, the content region of the Zones tab 806 may indicate that anyrelevant configuration changes or media content selected will be appliedto the “Kitchen+Patio” playback zone, previously selected in connectionto the discussions of FIG. 8A.

Upon selection of media content to be played in the “Kitchen+Patio”playback zone group, the interface may automatically, or in response tofurther user interaction, display in the information window, content 814associated with the Now Playing tab 804, as shown in FIG. 8C. Thecontent 814 may be similar to the content 714 shown in FIGS. 7A, 7D, and7F. In this case, the content region of the Now Playing tab 804 may alsoindicate information such as a track title and artist name of the mediacontent selected for playback, which in this case may be “Track 23” byartist “Artist 1.”

In contrast to the interface 700 of FIGS. 7A-7F, interface 800 of FIGS.8A-8C may not have designated tabs for music sources or playback queues.Instead, as mentioned previously, the interface 800 includes a Systemstab 802 via which the user may access music sources. In thisillustrative example, the interface 800 may be configured such that theuser can view and modify the playback queue associated with the“Kitchen+Patio” playback zone group by interacting with selectable icons(not shown) provided in the information window displaying content 814.Other example configurations are also possible.

Further, the tabs and/or tab configurations for interfaces such as thatdescribed above in connection to method 500, FIGS. 6A-6C, FIGS. 7A-7F,and FIGS. 8A-8C may be user-customizable. In one example, auser-customizable tab may be a tab generated according to past userinteractions. For instance, a user-customizable tab may include a listof the user's most frequently used playback zone configurations and/ormost frequency accessed media content sources, or playlists, similar tothe Favorites selection option shown in FIG. 8B.

In another example, a user-customizable tab configuration may be aconfiguration of tabs and organization of content associated with therespective tabs designed by the user. For example, if a user wishes tohave a designated tab for one subset of playback zones in the mediaplayback system and a designated tab for a second subset of playbackzones in the media playback system, the interface may include two tabsassociated with playback zones. In another example, if a user wishes tohave a designated tab for a favorite music source, the interface mayinclude a tab for the favorite music source, and a tab for all the otheravailable music sources. In this case, content displayed in theinformation window when the favorite music source tab is selected mayinclude the sub folders for the favorite music source, thereby reducingthe effort and time for the user to access media content from thefavorite music source. Other examples are also possible.

Further, while the discussions herein may generally refer to embodimentsin which the tabs are ordered vertically (i.e. a second tab displayeddirectly below a first tab, etc.), one having ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate that the tabs may also be ordered horizontally. Forinstance, a second tab may be displayed directly to the right of a firsttab, and an information window displaying content associated with thesecond tab may be displayed directly to the right of the second tab. Insuch a case, if the user wishes to view content associated with thefirst tab, the user may interact with the controller interface, such asvia a touch or swipe input, to cause the second playback tab to shiftrightwards, collapsing and hiding the information window that displayscontent associated with second tab, and reveal an information windowdirectly to the right of the first tab (and to the left of the secondtab) displaying content associated with the first tab. Otherimplementations are also possible.

IV. Conclusion

The description above discloses, among other things, various examplesystems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture including,among other components, firmware and/or software executed on hardware.It is understood that such examples are merely illustrative and shouldnot be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that anyor all of the firmware, hardware, and/or software aspects or componentscan be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software,exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. Accordingly, the examples provided are not the onlyway(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/or articles ofmanufacture.

As indicated, the present application involves providing a controllerinterface for controlling a media playback system. In one aspect, acomputer-implemented method is provided. The method involves displayingin an information window, content associated with a first tab. The firsttab is at a position directly above the information window. The methodalso involves displaying a second tab at a position directly below theinformation window, and in response to a first input, causing (i) thesecond tab to be displayed at a position directly below the first tab,(ii) the information window to be displayed at a position directly belowthe second tab, and (iii) the information window to display contentassociated with the second tab.

In another aspect, a second computer-implemented method is provided. Themethod involves displaying a second tab at a position directly below afirst tab, and displaying in an information window, content associatedwith the second tab. The information window is at a position directlybelow the second tab. The method also involves in response to a firstinput, causing (i) the information window to be displayed at a positiondirectly below the first tab, (ii) the information window to displaycontent associated the first tab, and (iii) the second tab to bedisplayed at a position directly below the information window.

In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer readable memory isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable memory has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions include displaying a firsttitle region at a first location, displaying a second title region at asecond location, and displaying in a content region, content associatedwith the first title region. The content region is at a third locationbetween the first location and the second location. The functions alsoinclude in response to a first input, (i) displaying the second titleregion at a fourth location directly below the first location, (ii)displaying the content region at a fifth location directly below thefourth location, and (iii) displaying in the content region, contentassociated with the second title region.

Additionally, references herein to “embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment can be included in at least one example embodiment of aninvention. The appearances of this phrase in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of otherembodiments. As such, the embodiments described herein, explicitly andimplicitly understood by one skilled in the art, can be combined withother embodiments.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrativeenvironments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, andother symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These processdescriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it isunderstood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at leastone example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible,non-transitory medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on,storing the software and/or firmware.

We claim:
 1. A method to be performed by a mobile computing device, themethod comprising: causing a touch-screen graphical display to display acontrol interface comprising (i) a first tab and a second tab separatedby a first distance, (ii) a first information window at a positionbetween the first tab and the second tab, the displayed firstinformation window not overlapping the first tab and the second tab, and(iii) content associated with the first tab in the first informationwindow; receiving, via the touch-screen graphical display, datarepresenting a touch input on the touch-screen graphical display; and inresponse to the touch input, modifying the displayed control interfaceto (a) display the first tab and the second tab separated by a seconddistance shorter than the first distance, and (b) no longer display thefirst information window, wherein modifying the displayed controlinterface comprises displaying an animation adjusting the first tab andthe second tab from separation by the first distance to separation bythe second distance.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving thedata representing the touch input on the touch-screen graphical displaycomprises receiving data representing a particular touch input to thefirst tab on the touch-screen graphical display, and wherein displayingthe animation adjusting the first tab and the second tab from separationby the first distance to separation by the second distance comprisesdisplaying an animation of the first information window collapsingtowards the first tab.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving thedata representing the touch input on the touch-screen graphical displaycomprises receiving data representing a particular touch input to thesecond tab on the touch-screen graphical display, and wherein modifyingthe displayed control interface further comprises modifying the controlinterface to display a second information window at a position betweenthe first tab and a third tab, the displayed second information windownot overlapping the first tab, the second tab, and the third tab and(iii) content associated with the second tab in the second informationwindow.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein displaying the animationadjusting the first tab and the second tab from separation by the firstdistance to separation by the second distance comprises displaying ananimation to reveal the second information window.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the control interface is displayed in a portraitorientation, and wherein causing the touch-screen graphical display todisplay the first tab and the second tab comprises causing thetouch-screen graphical display to display the second tab verticallybelow the first tab.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving thedata representing the touch input on the touch-screen graphical displaycomprises receiving data representing one of: (a) a tap input, (b) aflick input, or (c) a drag input.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst tab and the second tab correspond to two of (a) media playbacksystem settings, (b) media playback zones, (c) media content sources,(d) currently playing media, and (e) a media content playback queue. 8.A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory having storedthereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of amobile computing device, cause the mobile computing device to performfunctions comprising: causing a touch-screen graphical display todisplay a control interface comprising (i) a first tab and a second tabseparated by a first distance, (ii) a first information window at aposition between the first tab and the second tab, the displayed firstinformation window not overlapping the first tab and the second tab, and(iii) content associated with the first tab in the first informationwindow; receiving, via the touch-screen graphical display, datarepresenting a touch input to one on the touch-screen graphical display;and in response to the touch input, modifying the displayed controlinterface to (a) display the first tab and the second tab separated by asecond distance shorter than the first distance (b) no longer displaythe first information window, wherein modifying the displayed controlinterface comprises displaying an animation adjusting the first tab andthe second tab from separation by the first distance to separation bythe second distance.
 9. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readablememory of claim 8, wherein receiving the data representing the touchinput on the touch-screen graphical display comprises receiving datarepresenting a particular touch input to the first tab on thetouch-screen graphical display, and wherein displaying the animationadjusting the first tab and the second tab from separation by the firstdistance to separation by the second distance comprises displaying ananimation of the first information window collapsing towards the firsttab.
 10. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim8, wherein receiving the data representing the touch input on thetouch-screen graphical display comprises receiving data representing aparticular touch input to the second tab on the touch-screen graphicaldisplay, and wherein modifying the displayed control interface furthercomprises modifying the control interface to display a secondinformation window at a position between the first tab and a third tab,the displayed second information window not overlapping the first tab,the second tab, and the third tab and (iii) content associated with thesecond tab in the second information window.
 11. The tangible,non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 10, wherein displayingthe animation adjusting the first tab and the second tab from separationby the first distance to separation by the second distance comprisesdisplaying an animation to reveal the second information window.
 12. Thetangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 8, whereinthe control interface is displayed in a portrait orientation, andwherein causing the touch-screen graphical display to display the firsttab and the second tab comprises causing the touch-screen graphicaldisplay to display the second tab vertically below the first tab. 13.The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 8,wherein receiving the data representing the touch input on thetouch-screen graphical display comprises receiving data representing oneof: (a) a tap input, (b) a flick input, or (c) a drag input.
 14. Thetangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 8, whereinthe first tab and the second tab correspond to two of (a) media playbacksystem settings, (b) media playback zones, (c) media content sources,(d) currently playing media, and (e) a media content playback queue. 15.A mobile computing device comprising: a touch-screen graphical display;one or more processors; and data storage having stored thereoninstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causethe mobile computing device to perform functions comprising: causing thetouch-screen graphical display to display a control interface comprising(i) a first tab and a second tab separated by a first distance, (ii) afirst information window at a position between the first tab and thesecond tab, the displayed first information window not overlapping thefirst tab and the second tab, and (iii) content associated with thefirst tab in the first information window; receiving, via thetouch-screen graphical display, data representing a touch input on thetouch-screen graphical display; and in response to the touch input,modifying the displayed control interface to (a) display the first taband the second tab separated by a second distance shorter than the firstdistance (b) no longer display the first information window, whereinmodifying the displayed control interface comprises displaying ananimation adjusting the first tab and the second tab from separation bythe first distance to separation by the second distance.
 16. The mobilecomputing device of claim 15, wherein receiving the data representingthe touch input on the touch-screen graphical display comprisesreceiving data representing a particular touch input to the first tab onthe touch-screen graphical display, and wherein displaying the animationadjusting the first tab and the second tab from separation by the firstdistance to separation by the second distance comprises displaying ananimation of the first information window collapsing towards the firsttab.
 17. The mobile computing device of claim 15, wherein receiving thedata representing the touch input on the touch-screen graphical displaycomprises receiving data representing a particular touch input to thesecond tab on the touch-screen graphical display, and wherein modifyingthe displayed control interface further comprises modifying the controlinterface to display a second information window at a position betweenthe first tab and a third tab, the displayed second information windownot overlapping the first tab, the second tab, and the third tab and(iii) content associated with the second tab in the second informationwindow.
 18. The mobile computing device of claim 17, wherein displayingthe animation adjusting the first tab and the second tab from separationby the first distance to separation by the second distance comprisesdisplaying an animation to reveal the second information window.
 19. Themobile computing device of claim 15, wherein the control interface isdisplayed in a portrait orientation, and wherein causing thetouch-screen graphical display to display the first tab and the secondtab comprises causing the touch-screen graphical display to display thesecond tab vertically below the first tab.
 20. The mobile computingdevice of claim 15, wherein receiving the data representing the touchinput on the touch-screen graphical display comprises receiving datarepresenting one of: (a) a tap input, (b) a flick input, or (c) a draginput.